In my last post I mentioned that the English language Spiegel here has a comprehensive piece on the IPCC’s ideological struggle on whether or not to include the 15-year warming hiatus in the AR5 Summary Report.
Spiegel quotes Mike Hulme who says that the German delegation is “certainly more in the direction of ‘alarmist’” and are insisting that the warming hiatus not be mentioned. Why not? Spiegel tells us why (my emphasis):
German Green Party politician Hermann Ott, on the other hand, is satisfied with Germany’s conduct in the negotiations. Since Helmut Kohl’s government, Ott says, there has generally been consensus on the significance of climate protection, making it possible for “a great deal of continuity and a high level of expertise” to develop within Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Despite resistance from many researchers, the German ministries insist that it is important not to detract from the effectiveness of climate change warnings by discussing the past 15 years’ lack of global warming. Doing so, they say, would result in a loss of the support necessary for pursuing rigorous climate policies. “Climate policy needs the element of fear,” Ott openly admits. “Otherwise, no politician would take on this topic.”
Someone needs to remind Hermann Ott that there hasn’t been any warming since Helmut Kohl’s government ended in 1998 – completely contradicting the models. In fact, there hasn’t been much warming since the IPCC’s second report from 1995!